Dreams Antonio's Through out the novel, Bless Me, Ultima, Antonio has ten dreams that unconsciously helps him understand answers to many of his questions. Without these dreams, Antonio would be lost in the world that surrounds him. When Antonio meets Ultima, he dreams of her owl as being the Saint of the land. Although most people think of the owl as being associated with dark evil witches, this was a unique owl. This Owl represented the soul of Ultima. Ultima's arrival signifies the start of a new period in Antonio's life. Ultima teaches him many things about the earth's powers. He would harvest many herbs, learning that you have to tell the herbs why they are being harvested. Ultima would help Antonio out when he would become frightened. She plays a significant role in Antonio's thoughts and dreams. She helps him understand differences between god and the power of the land. In Antonio's second dream, he saw his brothers calling upon him to save them. Since Ultima came along and gave him a spiritual relationship with nature, he uses the power of the river and earth, rather then the power of god to save his brothers. This confuses Antonio because know, he does not know what to believe in. He wants to become a priest in the Catholic Church, but he seems drawn to the new earthly god, as we will see with the golden carp. Antonio is really dedicated to keeping his innocence. In his 3rd dream of the novel, he becomes concerned with the souls of his brothers getting doomed to eternal domination. His 4th dream shows his brothers coming home. He saw his brothers dark-figures on the crest of the horizon moving homeward. Antonio gets excited, pops out of bed and runs to the door. To his excitement he saw his brothers walking up to the house. Later in yet another of Antonio's dreams, he saw his brothers leading him to Rosie's Whorehouse, where tease they him and motion for him to go in. Knowing that he must keep his innocence, Antonio tells his brothers that he cannot enter. Ultima appears and tells Antonio that in the hills of Las Pasturas Llano lies his innocence, and then disappears. This leaves Antonio starving for answers to his aching questions. When Cico takes Antonio to see the almighty golden carp, Antonio takes an oath that says he can never kill a carp. He gets confused because he can ultimately only recognize one god, that the god of the Catholic Church. Antonio is then gabbled by the thought of only having one god, and keeping his innocence. In Antonio's 7th dream, he saw Ultima lying in a coffin. This is preparing Antonio for the death that is to come. Antonio's 8th dream includes god himself, and the golden carp. He watches the angry mob murder his father, his mother, and his sisters. He saw them behead Ultima, drive a steak through her heart, and burn her body. The mob then goes to the river, catch all the carp, and then cook them. Antonio watches, as the sun turns red while the farms bury his family's bodies. When nightfall occurs, the golden carp appears. It opens his mouth and swallows everything up in the land. He then swims up into the sky. Its golden body becomes the new sun that shines upon a new earth. This dream leaves Antonio wondering why god
will not hear the voice of someone that has golden idols. He goes to communion trying to get into touch with god, but nothing. Throughout Antonio's many but very common dreams, he tends to learn a lot from them. Ultima helps him in many areas, from spiritual to physical. Keep in mind that at the beginning of the novel Antonio is just six years old. That tends to explain why he cannot interpret things the way that most people can. He unconsciously gets many of his answers through the power of his dreams.